


The Breakfast Club

by mcgarrygirl78



Series: On and On [7]
Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Angst, Drama, F/M, Family, Friends With Benefits, Future Fic, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-26
Updated: 2017-02-26
Packaged: 2018-09-26 23:46:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9933053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcgarrygirl78/pseuds/mcgarrygirl78
Summary: Both women were probably pissed at him for completely different reasons.





	

She walked out of the bathroom wearing a smile and glad to see he was as well. Ed was sitting on the arm of his couch just looking at her. He'd uncuffed his shirt sleeves, rolled them up to his elbows. The knot on his purple and gray pinstripe tie was loose but not undone. Michelle was wearing his suit jacket around her shoulders as she had been for most of the evening. It looked cute with her Halston Heritage, white, off the shoulder cape mini-dress. The dress had been a hit at the awards dinner tonight and her companion seemed to enjoy it as well.

“You look nice and relaxed, Captain.” She said.

“You should join me.” Ed held out his hand, pulling her between his open legs when she took it.

“What would I take off?”

“We can start with this?” he pushed the jacket off her shoulders. “Stay a while.”

“What's a while?” she asked, putting her arms around his neck. His eyes fluttered shut, a content whistle of a sigh coming from his lips when she stroked the hair on the nape of his neck.

“The night. No pressure; I just wanna cuddle.”

“Uh huh.” She nodded.

“I've got a meatball and veggie platter in the fridge and a bottle of the wine you like. We can watch _Peyton Place_ or _West Side Story_.”

“Ooh, leveraging my love of late 50s, early 60s Russ Tamblyn…smooth move.”

“We’ll cuddle with a movie, some food and wine; see where the night takes us.”

“If this plan of yours works then the answer to that is morning.”

“I don’t want to be presumptive.”

“Presumptive about getting some or presumptive about me hitting and running before morning?” Michelle asked.

“Both.”

“So tell me what you want.” She leaned in as if to kiss him though her lips barely touched hi. 

Ed smiled and inhaled the scent of her. Good God, how could a woman smell so good? Michelle often wore daytime scents that were powdery and fresh; peonies, heather, and things like that. Tonight she smelled bold and spicy and sexy. Ed knew nothing about women’s perfumes but he knew that she loved them. He was beginning to as well.

“I want to thoroughly explore what's under this lovely dress.” He said.

“And?”

“I want your mouth on me.”

“And?”

“Some pillow talk.” Ed smiled.

“That’s my favorite part.” Michelle said.

“Your favorite part?” he raised an eyebrow and laughed a bit.

“OK, OK, its top 3 for sure. Don’t sell yourself short, Tucker, you're a hell of a conversationalist. You intrigue me.”

“How?”

He didn’t care if he sounded baffled when he asked. Michelle Prescott was brilliant. She was Ivy League educated and taught at an Ivy League school. She was an accomplished writer of books and various journal articles on a variety of subjects. Her speaking engagement calendar was nearly full. So many people wanted a little of her time, wanted her attention, and here she was with Ed. 

He was a pretty ordinary guy; no genius or great shakes. Hell, he'd learned more from his seventeen year old daughter about sexism and racism in the past couple of years than he’d been willing to think about over a half century walking the Earth. He didn’t have advanced degrees or educational texts on his shelves. Yet she enjoyed pillow talk with him. Being in awe of a woman like Michelle was expected. Having the feeling be kinda mutual was mind blowing.

“Well, you're funny.” Michelle said as she loosened his tie some more. “You have an open mind, a sweet smile, and a good soul. When I'm quiet you're quiet and when I'm chatty you indulge me.” She pulled the tie around his collar. “I like you and want to know more about you. You’ve got layers Tucker, I'm never quite going to get to the center of you.”

“You're one of the busiest women I've ever met. I doubt you have time.”

“One makes time for worthwhile endeavors, no?”

Ed wanted to reply no, but kept his mouth shut. He was crazy about Michelle, more than once had nudged for more than friendship and casual intimacy. His ego didn’t want to say that Michelle wasn’t interested; it was clear she was interested in him. She was busy though and found that men always wanted more than she could give. They would say they were good with whatever arrangement was decided on in the beginning but that always changed faster than she could blink. 

Ed wanted to be loved, desired, and Michelle did those things. He also wanted to be needed, and that wasn’t the kind of woman she was. She wanted him but didn’t need him and as hard as he tried to wrap his mind around that, it hurt. Asking him to change some antiquated, possibly toxic belief he had that being needed was equivalent to being loved was as difficult as asking her to change that she truly believed that. Ed was a great guy…considering his background and his career choice that was a shock. 

She didn’t plan to give him much grief about his flaws because all humans had them. Also, considering his age and race, Michelle was shocked at how flexible Ed was and his willingness to learn and engage. But she'd noticed a change in him since Olivia Benson came back into his life. Apparently she needed him, or was just needy. 

They were still doing the ‘just friends’ thing but Michelle knew it was only a matter of time before the neediness and the desire to be needed overwhelmed the both of them. She didn’t want to lose Ed as a friend. He was a welcome difference from so many of the things that regularly kept her busy. He was also A+ in bed. If this was going to be one of their last nights together, both needed to bring their best game.

“It’s been a while since I've been seen as a worthwhile endeavor.” He said.

“FOH, Tucker, I saw you about 3 weeks ago. You were worthwhile then.”

“FOH?”

“Fuck outta here.” Michelle laughed. “I thought I was schooling you better on internet slang.”

“It changes so rapidly; goes out of style before I even knew it was hot.”

“FOH is a staple, at least in my vocabulary.” She began unbuttoning his shirt. “C'mon, let's go and explore what's underneath these clothes.”

“Yes, Doctor.”

He popped up from the arm of the couch, arms around Michelle’s waist, and followed her step for step into the bedroom. The dog was relaxing at the bottom of the bed; Ronin paid no attention to the lovers. Their first kisses of the night were hungry and passionate; Michelle put her hand on his chest to slow him down some. Ed nodded, pulling her close as he made short work of her cape dress. It really was lovely but in a heap on the floor was just fine.

“Well goddamn.” He murmured when he finally saw what was under there.

Michelle was a shapely woman, the term hourglass came to mind. She had hips and breasts and a very nice ass. She did her best to hide those things under clean cut but plain work clothes. People drawing attention to her physical appearance, especially as a woman of color, was a way to divert attention from what she was trying to teach or what she'd experienced. That was one more thing that Ed had no idea about when he first met her. The thoughts never crossed his mind. In private however, Michelle was quite proud of her body and relished that Ed was as well.

She wore a white corset and a pair of white satin and lace knickers. Ed just grinned like a fool as she freed him from his dress shirt and slacks. He kicked off his shoes so he could get undressed but asked her to keep hers on. The purple peep toe heels were definitely staying.

“What's the magic word, Captain?” she asked, easing back onto the mattress. Ed was looming over her, working his boxers off before joining her on the bed.

“Pretty please with a cherry on top.”

Michelle was wearing more clothes than he was. She looked good enough to eat and that’s exactly what Ed wanted to do. As much as he knew he could spend a couple of hours admiring every inch of the good doctor, both skin and lingerie, he had some other plans tonight. They would both get joy out of what he had in mind.

***

Ed put the coffee cup on the nightstand before walking around the bed. Climbing in, he spooned behind Michelle and kissed her bare shoulder.

“Too early.” She mumbled.

“Not really.”

“It has to be…I don’t smell breakfast.”

“It’s not on yet but I did bring you coffee.” Ed said.

“Mmm,”

“And I made it just the way you like it.”

“Yay. You're a keeper, Tucker.”

“I actually have some unfortunate news.”

“Aww man,” Michelle turned over on her back, happily accepting Ed’s morning kisses. Her body immediately turned on like a light switch was flipped. Unfortunate news was never the precursor to hot, lazy, Saturday morning sex. “Just tell me.”

“Olivia is on her way.”

“Here?”

“She has a work emergency and is gonna drop off Noah. I didn’t get a chance to tell her that I had company.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake Tucker.”

Michelle hadn’t meant for it to come out as angry and exasperated as it sounded. She could tell by the look on Ed’s face that it shocked him as well. There was no point in backtracking now…Michelle was a woman who said what she felt. And though she hadn’t intended to be so harsh in tone, for fuck’s sake Tucker was pretty much what she felt at the moment.

“I didn’t do this on purpose.” He said, holding back his hurt. He was doing it badly but he was doing it.

“I know you didn’t. It’s fine.” Michelle threw back the covers. “I’ll just get dressed and get out of here. What time is Olivia getting here?”

“I really wish you wouldn’t leave.”

“What do you suppose I do then?”

“Stay.”

“Oh no,” Michelle laughed some. “I do not want that drama.”

“What drama?”

“Ed, I've been divorced, I'm a mom, and I know drama is on the horizon. I can practically smell it, unlike breakfast.”

“I have a right to company. I promised you breakfast and I don’t want to break that because Noah is on his way. He can have breakfast with us. We’re adults and Liv caught me off guard. I can't pretend I don’t have a life and am just here to be caught off guard.”

“I'm willing to bet a month’s paycheck that Olivia will pull the ‘strange woman around my son’ speech. It’s an oldie but goodie.”

“If she does then I’ll tell her that you and I are friends and friendship brings no harm to Noah.”

“So she’ll sigh and say she's trying to trust you but behavior like this makes it so difficult.” Michelle said.

“I’ll assure her that Noah is safe with me, as always, and she has no time to stand around and bicker. There's a work emergency that needs to be handled.”

“Are you sure about that?” Michelle lifted the coffee cup to her lips. All of this and she hadn’t had a sip of coffee. That was unfair. And Tucker was right, he made it just the way she liked it.

“I don’t quite understand the question.”

“Baby mama 101, always keep daddy on his toes.”

“Liv isn't like that.” he shook his head.

“I can admit that I don’t know her and I also hate to judge. But if you think you haven’t changed or been conditioned since she and Noah came back into your life…”

“Have I?” Ed was surprised to hear that. Now he wondered if everyone in his life thought so or just the person he was intimate with. It was certainly an interesting observation. He knew the past few months had seen him pulled in a few different emotional directions. But had he changed? “For better or for worse?”

“I'm not trying to punch down on you.” Michelle caressed his cheek. “I know that you love Noah very much and being his dad is nothing but a good thing for the both of you. But co-parenting comes with a plethora of complications that people aren’t always ready for. Because no matter what Tucker, you’ve got a soft spot for Olivia Benson. You’ve had it for a long time and she will use it to her advantage. Does that make her a manipulative hose beast? I can't say…I don’t know her. But it does make her human.”

“Chelly…”

There was hard knock on Ed’s door and he knew it was too late to say anything else. There was sympathy in his blue eyes as he leaned to kiss her cheek. Then he went out into the living room to open the door. Ronin was already there, trying to see who the visitors were. Ed opened the door and Noah came bounding in without a care in the world.

“Hi daddy!”

“Hey Noah.” He tousled his hair as he ran past.

“Thank you for doing this on such short notice.” Liv said. “I don’t even know when I’ll be back. I gave Noah a Nutri-Grain bar but I'm sure he's hungry since he's always hungry. I…”

“I didn’t get a chance to tell you because it all happened so fast and I tried to call you back and got voicemail.”

“What's up?” Liv pulled the phone from her pocket and saw she had two missed calls.

“I have company.”

“I'm sorry?”

“Michelle is here; we’re going to have breakfast together. Of course I’ll look after Noah as long as you need me to but I needed to tell you that someone else is here.”

“Why didn’t you just tell me?”

“I tried but the phone call was less than 5 minutes. I could tell you were frantic and I couldn’t get a word in edgewise. Of course I'm going to keep him but…”

“I don’t know how comfortable I am with Noah being here with someone I don’t know.” Liv said.

“He's here with me Liv, not a complete stranger.” Ed swallowed some bile and cleared his throat.

“I didn’t know you were having sleepovers.” She lowered her voice so Noah wouldn’t here. “That is something I needed to be made aware of. We didn’t mean to put a damper on your personal life.”

“That sounded like a bit of a dig so I'm just going to ignore it because I'm sure you're not purposely trying to pick a fight. And honestly, you don’t need to be made aware of things I do when we’re not together. Everything is fine. You can go to work and I’ll take care of Noah.”

“I need to meet her first. I already don’t like this but since you kept it from me I don’t have much choice but to go along with it. I don’t leave my son with strangers, Ed.”

“Our son.” He said calmly. “And last time I checked, Michelle wasn’t a serial killer. She has children as well.”

Ed called her out from the bedroom, not sure what to expect. She was wearing a tee shirt and briefs, his briefs, the last time he saw her. It was his intent to make her climax a few more times before feeding her and then separating for an indeterminate amount of time. Now none of that was going to happen. Both women were probably pissed at him for completely different reasons. 

Ed Tucker was definitely too old for this shit. Michelle emerged in a pair of gray sweat capris, white sports socks and a Black Trans Lives Matter tee shirt. Her hair, which had been flying with reckless abandon a few minutes ago, was now pulled back in a thick, clean plait. Even makeup free and fresh from sleep, she was quite a beautiful woman. The look on Liv’s face checking out the look on his said the same thing in another language.

“Michelle Prescott, this is Olivia Benson.”

“It’s nice to meet you.” she smiled as she extended her hand. Liv seemed to want to appear friendly but couldn’t quite get there. Her handshake was firm though. Michelle could tell that was natural and not a competitive thing.

“I'm sorry we’re interrupting your morning but I have a work emergency. I didn’t have time to call anyone else.”

“Being a dad is Tucker’s number one priority. He can be with me whenever he likes so it’s not a bother. He does owe me breakfast so I'm gonna collect and then be on my way. You're not interrupting a thing.” She kept her smile on; pretty, effervescent. It wasn’t her intent to be a jerk but Michelle felt the need to defend Ed. Whether or not Olivia was playing games he was still likely to come out on the short end. She liked him too much to just roll with that.

“Well I have to go. Ed, are you sure this is OK?”

“It’s fine. Just text when you have some idea of how long you'll be. Noah and I will probably take Ronin to the park after some food.”

“Alright.” She nodded. “I’ll be sure to text. It was nice meeting you, Michelle.”

“You as well.”

“Noah, I'm leaving. Be good with dad and I’ll see you later.”

“Bye Mom.”

“See ya, Liv.” Ed smiled.

She didn’t answer, just turned and walked out of the apartment door. Ed sighed as he locked up behind her. Was every woman in his life going to be pissed at him today? Perhaps it was better to just spend all his time with his six year old. Noah was always 100% happy to be with him.

“We should probably introduce you two.” He said.

“I'm ready if you are.”

“Hey, Noah?”

“Yes, Daddy?” he looked up from the television. He had turned it on and put on his favorite channel. His Leap Frog was also on the couch beside him, to read during commercials.

“I want you to meet my friend Chelly. She’s going to have breakfast with us today.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Noah.”

“Hi Chelly. Are you my dad’s girlfriend?”

Michelle couldn’t believe it, but Ed Tucker actually blushed. It wasn’t the dark cranberry flush she'd seen on Caitlin more than once but he'd never be able to deny that his cheeks colored.

“Noah…”

“Its fine, Ed. I'm not your dad’s girlfriend,” she sat down beside Noah on the couch. “We’re just friends which is totally awesome because it’s OK for guy and girls to be friends. Especially when they have things in common.”

“What do you and my dad have in common?” Noah asked.

“We both love breakfast.” Ed replied. “Are you OK with Chelly having some breakfast with us, bud?”

“Mmm hmm, as long as we have bacon.”

“Oh Noah, I love bacon.” Michelle said.

“OK, then we can be friends too.”

“Excellent. So, you're trying to decide here between cartoons and books? It’s a tough choice.”

Noah was reading a book about zoo animals so he entertained Michelle with all kinds of tidbits, real and imagined. Ed slipped into the kitchen to start breakfast. Usually he accompanied cooking with music like Motown or early rock and roll. This morning he listened to Noah and Michelle’s friendly chatter. It was better than any song on the radio. 

They were laughing, chatting about elephants, Kodiak bears, and penguins. He'd never seen or heard her interact with a kid…her children were adults and so were his. She didn’t talk down to or at Noah; she conversed with him. When he struggled with his pronunciations or chattered so quickly he lost his train of thought, she was there to gently pull him back on track. It took a minute for Ed to realize that he was smiling from ear to ear just listening to them. He needed to put more focus on cooking before they both got hungry and turned on him.

***

“Hi.” Liv said when Ed opened the door.

“Is everything alright at work?” he asked, letting her into the apartment.

“A bit chaotic actually, but there wasn’t much more I could do. I had to tell myself to stop, breathe, and let go. There were other people there handling things just fine.”

“What happened?”

“There was a big fire at a Queens battered women’s shelter. The location is secret but they think it was arson. We had to get all the residents to a safe location and work with some of our other connections to get the women and children what they needed for the next few days.”

“Was anyone hurt?” Ed asked. He always commended Liv for what she did but it wasn’t for the faint at heart. It was probably better that she wasn’t doing it with a gun anymore.

“There were a few broken bones, some smoke inhalations, and plenty of terrified kids. I can’t help but think of Noah when I see them. Knowing how much of a mama grizzly I am in protecting him. It’s so hard for the moms I work with.”

“He's fine; we had a pretty relaxing day.”

“All you had to do was tell me that you were busy this morning.” She said. “I would've made alternative plans.”

“Well firstly, it all happened in less than five minutes. I can show you the length of the phone call in case you’ve forgotten. Secondly, Michelle didn’t mind shortening our time one bit.”

“So she left after breakfast?”

“She showered and then left, yes.”

“You don’t have to be dishonest with me Ed, if she’s your girlfriend you really need to tell me so.”

“She isn't.” he shook his head. “I don’t know what you want from me Liv but we’re just friends.”

“Friends who sleep together?”

“We are two human beings who enjoy each other’s company. I never knew you to be so prudish about the whole thing.”

“I wish you would've told me this before…”

“Before what?” Ed asked. He had no idea what she was going to say but had some ideas. Each one pissed him off more than the one that came before. He took a deep breath.

“I don’t want Noah to be confused.”

“I don’t think he is. Feel free to interrogate him when I'm not around.”

“Oh c'mon, you don’t have to be a jerk about it. He's six years old and things confuse him, especially seeing random women in your apartment first thing in the morning.”

“Is it the prospect of random women that piss you off so much or Michelle in particular? You keep saying be honest and don’t keep things from each other, but you're the one doing most of the shuffling, Liv. I didn’t intend for you and Michelle to meet that way; I can apologize for an awkward situation. I won't apologize for having a life. I worked hard for it, it’s mine, and it’s no reflection on you.”

“I didn’t say that it was.” She crossed her arms.

“So what gives?”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“You’ve been throwing jabs at me since you found out Michelle existed.” Ed said. “I've always had female friends. If you have a problem then just say so.”

“How many of your female friends are you sleeping with?” she asked.

“I think it’s better if you go.”

Ed felt the click in his jaw and knew the conversation was going downhill fast. He brushed past her and went into the bedroom where Noah was playing with the dog on the bed. They were both eating popcorn from the bowl Ed made.

“Alright you, mom is here to take you home. Hey, we talked about giving the dog junk food.”

“It’s not junk, its light butter popcorn.” Noah said.

“That’s junk food for dogs, my boy.”

“Do I have to go now?”

“Yes, mom’s here. But I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“What are we gonna do?”

“I'm not sure but we’re smart so I know we’ll think of something. C'mon, you have to make sure everything goes in your backpack.”

“Is Chelly gonna come with us tomorrow?” Noah asked as he climbed off the bed and walked out into the living room.

“No bud, she was just here for breakfast this morning. But I'm glad you had a nice time.”

“She can really eat bacon.” Noah giggled.

Ed didn’t have to look at Liv when Noah asked, he could feel the fire coming off her from halfway across the room. He went into the kitchen to busy himself and because he didn’t want to get singe mark from the heat.

She wasn’t going to bust into a big fight in front of Noah. The truth was she didn’t have much of a leg to stand on…not that that had stopped her in the past. But despite this morning being uncomfortable, who Ed chose to spend his time with was really none of her business. The fact that he chose dad duty over being frisky with anyone was a good thing. His priorities where that was concerned were in the right place. Not that Liv ever thought they weren't. 

Even many moons ago when they were dating, he was so good to Noah. It was clear that Liv and the toddler were a package and Ed never batted an eyelash. Ed had been good to both of them and Liv repaid him by putting everything she could think of ahead of the relationship. And when she ran out of obstacles to place in front of them, she dumped him. Now here she stood, three years later, angry because he'd really moved on. Liv didn’t want to admit it to herself but she was incensed and had little right to be.

“Everything is in my backpack!” Noah exclaimed as he put it on his back.

“Alright, sweetie. Give dad a hug so we can head home.”

“Love you, dad.” Noah ran into the kitchen, launching himself into Ed’s arms.

“I love you too, all the way to the moon and back.”

“Even to Vulcan?” Noah asked.

“To Vulcan too.” Ed kissed his temple and then walked him and his mother to the door. “Please don’t call me later with an apology, an explanation, or whatever. I think this conversation just needs to be all the way over. I'll pick Noah up between 12:30 and 1 tomorrow.”

Liv nodded, not even saying goodbye as she walked out the door. As Ed closed and locked up, he wanted to throw something but didn’t. The woman was so goddamn infuriating. He was well acquainted with many of the sides of Olivia Benson’s personality, even the petty one. What he wasn’t going to do was let it get to him. 

They were trying to be friends, though he'd begun to question just what her definition of that word was. His definition didn’t include bending to her every whim and complaint. Ed didn’t intend to flatter himself by assuming that Liv’s dislike for Michelle meant she still had feelings for him. Despite those I love yous a couple of months ago, he didn’t think she felt that way. Sometimes he wasn’t sure if she'd ever really loved him, not the way you're supposed to love someone…whatever that meant. 

Maybe she was incapable of it. Maybe she was the kind who needed constant reassurance that she was loved but wouldn’t, or couldn’t, give it return. She'd been through so much hell in so many aspects of her life since childhood. It would be ridiculous to pretend that it hadn’t shaped, and scarred, her entire life. Some people he'd discussed it with thought that if they just kept the lines of communication open that Liv and Ed would be fine. 

Sometimes Ed felt it was only a matter of time before she talked him out of wanting anything to do with her. It was maddening but also very sad. He didn’t think the way he felt about Olivia would ever change. It hadn’t before they spent that year and a half together and it hadn’t in the three years they were apart. But he was starting to remember all the reasons it hadn’t worked out in the first place. Ed was glad she was making strides in getting the help she needed to ease some of the burdens of her mind. 

He just wasn’t sure there would ever be enough therapy and support to not repeat certain mistakes in her life. It felt uncomfortable to think of himself as a mistake but after all he’d seen and dealt with in the past three months, it was hard not to categorize himself as such. Ed would always be Noah’s dad and he appreciated that Liv agreed that making it legal was a good thing. Maybe it was time to draw a real line in the sand where they were concerned as well. The conversation wouldn’t be easy but very few with her had been lately. Liv was having her say, expressing her feelings, making her thoughts known; didn’t Ed deserve the same courtesy?

His phone buzzing on the kitchen counter brought him out of his thoughts. It was only then he realized that he’d been pacing the living room floor. He almost ignored it, thought it might be Liv expressly ignoring his wishes. When he walked over, looked at the screen, and saw Chelly Belle, Ed let out a sigh of relief.

“Hey.”

“You sound tired, are you still on dad duty?”

“Liv came and picked Noah up. They left about ten minutes ago.”

“I just wanted to tell you that I had a great time at breakfast this morning. Noah is a prince; he brings out your goofy side.”

“He's six, it’s a gift.”

“It’s more than that.”

“Are you busy for dinner?” Ed asked.

“I've been researching and crafting syllabi all day…I could use a break. What did you have in mind?”

“Dinner and a movie. I can come to you.”

“Aww shit, Ed Tucker is gonna grace Brooklyn with his presence.” Michelle laughed.

“It’s been a while. It’s the least I can do after what happened this morning.”

“Uh uh, you don’t owe me anything for that. I don’t want dinner and a movie because you feel guilty and think you owe me. I want it because you always feed me good food, I like your face, and I need a break from work.”

“OK. So _Peyton Place_ and deep dish tomato pie?”

“Ooh yes, keep talking.”

“I’ll bring a bottle of Nero d’Avola.”

“Mmm, that’s a bit bitter for my palate; I've never been overly fond of the Shirazes. Change that to a Barbera d’Alba and I’ll definitely be wearing something more comfortable when you get here.”

“Changed.”

“Excellent. I'm liking the sound of this.”

“So I'm on my way to you. I’ll bring everything we need; you just bring your superior wit and sparkling personality.”

“I don’t like to brag but I can do that with my eyes closed, Captain. Don’t forget, I might ignore you a little bit for Russ Tamblyn.”

“I’ll take what he can't get.”

“See you soon.”

Ed hung up and his scowl had turned into a smile. The summer was heating up and he knew this wasn’t the end of his troubles by a long shot. Ed was ready to put his foot down though. He enjoyed all the aspects of his post-retirement life, including the people he invited into it. All of this was his second chance at happiness. 

He didn’t want people to be a part of it if their participation had conditions. Ed had done that for too long and wouldn’t anymore. Three years ago, he saw the red flags and his relationship with Liv coming to a screeching halt way before it actually had. This time he had no intention of being in that car when it went over the cliff. There was someplace safer to relax for a while.

***


End file.
